Arrest of 73-year-old Charles Gary Sullivan for murder of Julia Woodward could unearth slew of killings as family suspects he may be a serial killer
RENO, NEVADA: A potential serial killer was taken into custody on Wednesday, November 13, in northern Arizona and has been extradited to Reno. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Washoe District Court.
Charles Gary Sullivan, 73, is charged with the murder of Julia Woodward, 21, of San Rafael, California. Her body was found in Hungry Valley northwest of Sparks on March 25, 1979. Apart from that case, the accused is also the target of multiple homicide investigations involving young women, one of them being Jeannie Smith, 17, who was found about a mile away from where Woodward's body was found. Smith disappeared before Woodward.
Apart from law enforcement sources, Sullivan's own family members suspected that the accused could be connected to other murders in Arizona.
Woodward was last seen on Feb. 1, 1979, when she left her San Rafael home north of San Francisco to go to Reno or Lake Tahoe to look for a job. She was dropped off at the airport by a friend. Her body was found in Hungry Valley’s Eagle Canyon with blunt force trauma on her head two months later. She had been killed there.
Tom Green of the Washoe County Sheriff's Office told KOLO 8 News Now in 2015: "According to the old reports Julia was a sweet girl, loved her family, had plans for her future."
Smith's skeletal remains, on the other hand, were found in a shallow grave after she was last seen Oct. 28, 1978, at Circus Circus Hotel in Reno. She also died due to blunt force trauma in her head.
"It's very unusual that two victims from the same year with similar circumstances would be found in the same geographical area like that," Green said in 2015. Sullivan's neighbors told ABC15 that they were shocked recently to see multiple police agencies storm the suspected serial killer's home with guns drawn. The accused was not at home and was arrested at a different location.
"They just jumped out with their guns, big guns, and just ran towards his house and started pounding and hammering," said Leilah Duncan, who lives near Sullivan's home. "Meanwhile, I'm running into my house and the agent's saying to stay away from the windows. I told my husband I had no idea what was going on."